In a principal aspect, the present invention relates to the design and use of a system and methods directed to evaluation of the polishability of materials and/or the performance of polishing devices and/or instruments in a standard, repeatable manner.
There are various clinical and laboratory evaluations reporting on the polishability of materials (such as dental repair materials) and the performance of polishing devices and/or instruments (such as dental devices); however, the evaluations rely heavily on human intervention to control several important test parameters, such as applied force, contact distance and duration, and movement of the polishing equipment in contact with the material being polished by the clinician. Furthermore, the laboratory evaluations typically lack proper feedback control mechanisms to maintain these test variables in a dynamic testing environment. Thus, there is a need for apparatus that properly control such variables. The described system and method provide a precise and repeatable means for evaluating the polishability of materials and/or the performance of polishing devices and/or instruments.